Garden School Foundation, September 6

This Sunday at The Green Tent, the Garden School Foundation is making seed bombs with the kiddos, cultivating a new generation of guerrilla gardeners, and teaching the little ones that you can garden anywhere!

The Garden School Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides interactive garden-based education to under served-children across LA in their outdoor living classrooms. Since 2003, they’ve been turning asphalt into ecosystems, working to create a healthy, educated and aware future generation that care for their bodies and for the earth. 

Currently they are serving at five Title1 elementary schools and serve over 2,500 students and their families, bringing to life what’s taught in the classroom and giving kids the tools they need to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Eating Lower on the Food Chain, August 30

You've been told since you were a kid to "eat your veggies!" Sure it's healthy to eat vegetables, but there are more reasons to eat lower on the food chain than you might think. 

Environmental impacts like pollution, air quality, green house gases as well as health concerns have all been attributed to industrial meat production and the resulting product we find on supermarket shelves. For example, did you know it takes nearly 200 times more water to raise a pound of beef than it does to grow a pound of potatoes? Given California's drought, it makes sense to reduce the amount of meat we consume. 

Eating lower on the food chain is a lot easier than you might think. Stop by the Green Tent this Sunday to learn more about meatless meals, local restaurants that offer plant-based menus, great recipes for incorporating more veggies into your diet, and helpful advice from Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd. 

A vegetarian for 22 years with a meat-eating husband, Christy can answer your questions about eating lower on the food chain, and where to find sustainable alternatives to industrial meat, eggs and cheese. 

She'll be bringing her arsenal of plant-based cookbooks to give you delicious ideas for meatless meals based on your schedule or cooking ability. 

Master Gardens, August 23

Have you picked all the tomatoes you can eat? Do you need to plug some empty spaces in your late summer garden? The Master Gardeners are back at The Green Tent for another month of giveaways, including free plants, free seeds and free information. 

And what a lot of choices you’ll have on Sunday, August 23 from 9 am to 1 pm!! Better come early for the best selection.

• Anaheim Peppers, mildly hot, use green or wait until they turn red. 
• Mustard Greens, mild mix of four different shapes and textures, succulent and delicious. 
• Calendula, edible flower. The poor woman’s saffron. And beautiful as a cut flower. 
• Bush Beans, French baby, tender-crisp & fine tasting gourmet baby beans.
• Pole Beans, imported French variety, abundant, slender and elegant, crispy-sweet beans.
  
• Summer squash, patty-pan, space-saving bush plants, easy and fast to grow, harvest in 55 days!  
• Spinach, long-standing spinach, upright, crunchy leaves and rich flavor, keep picking for long harvests.
• Basil mix of Purple Opal and Heirloom salad leaf basil.
• Dill, an heirloom called Leafy Diana. Blue-green leaves for salads, seeds for cooking and blossoms that bring butterflies.
• Cilantro, fast growing lacy green leaves with a fresh spicy-sharp flavor.

But wait, there’s more…!

• Baby Pak Choi,  Plump, crispy mini heads with pastel stalks. Ready in a record 45 days!!!
• Kale, Triple-Curled, Dutch Darkibor. Handsome & productive, vitamin-rich leaves are mild tasting & juicy-sweet.
• Chard, Neon Glow, eye catching color combo. Delicious and beautiful.
• Arugula, Rustic Heirloom variety. Long lasting plants with tangy-tasting indented leaves and spicy golden blossoms.

PLEASE remember to bring your plastic six packs so the Master Gardeners can plant up a batch of seedlings as generous as this month’s.

Your best source for drought related information is http://bewaterwise.com/gardenspot.html. And what’s that eating  your veggies, fruit or making your plants sick? Try this resource as your first recourse and try to avoid the temptation to use chemicals: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu!

Green Real Estate, August 16

IN REAL ESTATE, GREEN IS GOLD!

Did you know that "Green" homes often sell faster and for more money than the traditional home? 

Not only does your investment into "green" home upgrades save you money with lower utility costs and rebates, but it helps put more "green" in your pocket when it's time for you to sell. Save yourself money, "green" our community and help save the Planet, too.

Come by the Green Tent to meet local National Association of Realtors GREEN Designee Susan Klos, and get green upgrade ideas to help transform your home to be sustainable, eco-friendly and a more valuable property. Get information about DWP's FREE Home Energy Improvement Program. 

Susan has a limited number of FREE sink aerators and shower heads from DWP to give out--and a wildflower seed packet for our Green Tent guests.

Gordon Welty is joining Susan in the Green Tent and can answer any questions you have about solar energy.

Food Forward, August 9

Donate your homegrown abundance

   ...feed those in need

Pedal your homegrown harvests to the Green Tent on Sunday, August 9th during CicLAvia to ensure fresh food goes to those in need in the community! 

Food Forward will be accepting donations of garden produce and backyard fruit from 9 am - 3 pm. This nutritious fare goes to St. Joseph Center and New Life Society, agencies that directly serve those in need in the community. 

Food Forward not only battles hunger in Southern California but also works to curb the environmental issue of food waste. Recent studies have shown that 40% of the food in the country never makes it to the table and 20% of what goes into municipal landfills is food. Southern California is an abundant land of agriculture and donating surplus food to the 1.28 million food insecure in LA county is a win-win!

Food Forward is at the Green Tent every second Sunday of the month so mark your calendars! For more information about donating your homegrown produce to the Backyard Harvest Food Drive, please email volunteer@foodforward.org.

Food Forward is a Southern California based non-profit that recovers produce from backyard fruit trees, farmers markets and LA's downtown wholesale market and then donates 100% of what is collected to local hunger relief agencies. 

NOTE: On August 9, our Farmers' Market is also a CicLAvia hub. All parking lots will be accessible, but street closures may require you to take a different route; Bowlero is allowing Farmers' Market parking in both of its lots. Click here for more information.